Nicola Sturgeon told major City firms on Wednesday that Scotland would welcome jobs being shifted from London, Sky News learns.

Scotland's First Minister has offered to roll out the red carpet to major City firms amid efforts by European rivals to poach financial services jobs from a post-Brexit London.

Sky News has learnt that Nicola Sturgeon met around 20 big employers in London on Wednesday to declare that Scotland would remain an ideal location for financial and professional services jobs even after the UK leaves the EU.

Among the firms represented at the meeting, which was organised by TheCityUK, a lobbying group, were Deloitte and Lloyds Banking Group, which has its legal headquarters north of the border.

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Ms Sturgeon has vowed to untangle Scotland from Brexit, and has warned Westminster that momentum is building towards a second Scottish independence referendum after a majority of the country voted to remain in the EU.

The financial services industry employs tens of thousands of people in Scotland, with companies such as Lloyds, Royal Bank of Scotland, Standard Life and Virgin Money accounting for a significant proportion of them.

According to a person who was present at Wednesday's meeting with the First Minister, she made no new pledges on support for financial services but said the Scottish Government would welcome further investment by the industry there.

London is already being targeted by rival EU financial centres including Amsterdam, Dublin, Frankfurt and Paris because of uncertainty about whether the UK will continue to have access to the Continent's passporting regime once it leaves the EU.

A number of investment banks‎ which backed the campaign to remain in the EU, such as JP Morgan, have warned that they will be forced to move operations from the UK if it is no longer part of passporting.

George Osborne, the Chancellor, has met the heads of British and international banks operating in London to attempt to reassure them about the City's continued status as a leading global financial hub.

Despite concerns about an imminent exodus, most employers are likely to wait until they see the shape of a UK-EU trade deal before relocating significant numbers of staff.

Some asset managers have taken tentative steps to do so, setting up new legal entities in jurisdictions like Luxembourg.

TheCityUK, meanwhile, confirmed on Wednesday that its new chief executive is to be Miles Celic, a Prudential executive.

Last week, the lobbying group said it was setting up a Brexit steering committee, jointly chaired by the Barclays chairman John McFarlane and the Prudential chairman Paul Manduca.

In a statement, they said they would "ensure a clear industry message is communicated to policymakers - critical if we are to achieve an outcome that is in the best interests of the UK and safeguards continued economic prosperity".